If you're looking for the best gaming chairs there's a new contender, and it's a cheerful one. The new Vertagear PL1000 comes in a pink and white combination that makes me think of ice cream, but while it's a fun-looking thing it's got a steel skeleton and lots of adjustment to keep you comfortable through even the longest gaming marathon.
I'm a bit of an evangelist about chairs: as a former RSI sufferer and back surgery patient I've learnt the importance of ergonomics (and of taking time away from the screen) the hard way, and if you're going to be gaming for long periods a cheap office chair isn't going to cut it.
A decent range of height and back adjustment is crucial, and armrests can help too – provided they're height adjustable, like these ones are. And all these features have the extra bonus of improving in-game comfort so you don't lose your competitive edge through various bits of you getting sore or going numb.
I think the pink looks great, but if you're not a fan don't worry: the chair can also be ordered in "carbon black", red, blue, green, white or purple.
Vertagear PL1000: what does it do and how much does it cost?
The PL1000 is recommended for gamers up to 6'2" tall and weighing up to 240lbs (17.1st or 110kg). It's upholstered in a PVC/PU faux leather blend for easy maintenance with high resiliency foam inside and an industrial grade gas lift. The skeleton is steel and the star-shaped base is metal too, with motorsports-inspired casters for easy manoeuvrability. You can adjust the backrest, the seat hight and the neck pillow to get the chair just-so.
The Vertagear PL1000 is on sale in the US now with a price tag of $279.99; there's no sign of a UK release just yet – or at least not an official one. There is one rather odd Amazon UK listing from a third party based in the US, which has titled the chair "Flesh" and offered it for £529.64 with just £326.76 delivery. You might want to wait for the official Vertagear listing instead.
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Writer, musician and broadcaster Carrie Marshall has been covering technology since 1998 and is particularly interested in how tech can help us live our best lives. Her CV is a who’s who of magazines, newspapers, websites and radio programmes ranging from T3, Techradar and MacFormat to the BBC, Sunday Post and People’s Friend. Carrie has written more than a dozen books, ghost-wrote two more and co-wrote seven more books and a Radio 2 documentary series; her memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, was shortlisted for the British Book Awards. When she’s not scribbling, Carrie is the singer in Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind (unquietmindmusic).